Second Chances
by AshNight1422
Summary: If she could do it all again she would choose him and not the darkness. Vanessa Ives has that very chance within her grasp if only she could remember why she chose to come back in the first place. The dangers she had in her previous life are still very much real, will history repeat itself to unleash the mother of all evil once again?
1. Reincarnation

Chapter One

Sadness. It was all he could really feel in his very being as he was watching the one woman whom he loved, dying in his arms. At her request he had set her free but in that moment as he watched her eyes, her face, her expression; he wished he had never pulled the trigger. It was his fault this happened. If he had never left then she would have never gave in to the darkness. He was losing her as he watched the life drain from her eyes, and her face while feeling her body become limp in his arms. His eyes were watery as the sound of sniffles could be heard throughout that tiled room. Just closing his eyes he lowered his head to her chest as he brought her body closer to himself, just in time to hear her heart beat for the very last time.

"I'm sorry." He whispered the words while his voice was somewhat broken as he felt overwhelming anguish as more tears came.

...

 _Vanessa…_ Someone was calling out to her as she felt like she was in a dream but as soon as her eyes opened, it was dark. There was little light as there was mist everywhere and quiet whispers as she saw shadows pass at every direction she looked to. Confusion set in on her features before she put a hand out in front of her, and began to walk, just trying to find anything to grab onto. Then someone took her hand as a bright light flooded her eyes, and her senses as it made her close her eyes. As her eyes opened again she still felt someone holding her hand, but the scenery had changed, and now she heard the sounds of waves. Seagulls. It was sunny and felt warm as she realized she was standing outside but looking to the person in front of her, her eyes went wide. "Mina…?" Vanessa whispered.

There was a smile on her friends face as she appeared happy to see Vanessa and Mina appeared happy and healthy, nothing like how she died when Malcolm had ended her life. She was different. "My dearest Vanessa." Mina said as she pulled her in to hug her.

"Where are we?" She couldn't help but ask her happy looking friend as she slowly remembered what had happened. "Ethan...I must go." Vanessa said hurriedly but Mina pulled back to look at her.

"I'm afraid not, your battle is done and you are free to rest at last. No more death. No more sadness and anguish. Just peace." Mina said.

A look of concern had come over Vanessa as she was somewhat in thought of her situation as she stared back at her best friend. It was all coming back to her that she had become the mother of all evil as she had accepted her true nature influenced heavily by Dr. Sweet, or Dracula as he had many names through the ages. "But what about Ethan? Malcolm? I can't just leave them behind."

"I'm sorry Vanessa but you must, they will come eventually, though it may be somewhat of a wait." Mina said with a shrug as Vanessa felt tears welling up in her eyes while Mina continued speaking. "It will be very difficult but they will move on, I promise you."

"Yes but..." She couldn't bring herself to speak further as her voice was cracking somewhat because of her crying, Vanessa could picture Ethan in her thoughts as she yearned for his presence, and kind words. Mina could tell what Vanessa's thoughts were as the beginning of a smile tugged at the edge of her lips. "You wish to see him."

Vanessa gave a nod of her head as she couldn't stop thinking about her small family. Mina gave a slow nod as well before she took her friend's hand once again as the scenery fell away to Vanessa's room in Malcolm's home. It had happened all so suddenly that Vanessa hadn't expected to see Ethan sitting by himself in the room against the wall, the very wall that used to hold the cross she had thrown into the fire. Realization hit her that she could see him but seeing that he couldn't see her, she felt fresh pain. "He can't see me."

"No." Mina said while sensing her friend's hurting as she came up beside Vanessa and held her arm. "We are not of the living anymore so they cannot see us. Some can because of gifts God gives them but they are few people."

Her eyes were glued to Ethan it seemed as she watched his every move down to his chest rising and falling just from breathing. She longed to go to him and hold him to let him know everything would be alright, but she couldn't. "If I could do it again, I would choose him." Vanessa said while a tear or two fell from her, staining her cheek.

"You could." Mina said with a thoughtful look but what she had said made Vanessa raise an eyebrow while looking to her. "Could what?" She asked.

"Choose him. Do it again." She said as Vanessa still seemed lost until Mina sighed softly and began to explain. "I've heard from others that sometimes souls can return back to the living, but as different people. Sometimes."

Her explanation made Vanessa realize what she was talking about as her eyes widened. "Reincarnation? But there is no guarantee I will remember why I brought myself back. What if I don't find him?" She asked these questions as Mina had a nervous laugh.

"Unfortunately it is not an exact science. Sometimes God has other plans but this would be a way to find Mr. Chandler. The only way." Mina said with a little bit of a smile.

"Then..." Vanessa let out a soft sigh while thinking about her options and weighing the many cons, as there were many. "I wish to go back."

"I thought perhaps you would choose such." Vanessa's friend smiled softly.

...

 _Candles burned against the walls of ceramic tile as she stood, a figure in white while he slowly approached. Beaten and battered he was tired but they needed to escape, all he could think of was getting them away from here. The woman that turned around was not the person he remembered as he stopped, each looking at one another for what felt like eons._

" _It hurts me more than I thought it would. Seeing you."_

" _You have to come with me. Now."_

" _And go where? They will hunt me till the end of days."_

"Vanessa!" A voice shouted as something clattered onto the wood of the desk and a high school-aged girl suddenly sat up, startled, when she had accidentally fallen asleep. The teacher who stood over the girl had a disapproving look. "Vanessa Jones, what date was it that Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese?"

For a moment the raven-haired girl thought but because her mind had been elsewhere, she shrugged. "I...I don't know Mrs. Kline."

The teacher clucked her tongue in disapproval before she seemed to lighten up. "No more sleeping in my class. For anyone." She said out loud before returning to her lesson.

It wasn't long before the bell rang for the class to let out as young Vanessa got up from her desk and was beginning to put her things away to leave, but her best friend came over from where she was sitting across the room. A young blonde whom always seemed friendly.

"Did you have the dream again?" She asked as Vanessa slowly nodded with a sort of scared look. "Yeah, it was really weird like it always is. Candles. Mood lighting. And these two people just facing each other talking pretty seriously. What do you make of it Mina?"

The girl shrugged her shoulders as she looked back at Vanessa. "I don't know, maybe it's reincarnation."

 ** _..._**

 **A/N: It's obviously been forever since I've actually written anything legit so you'll have to forgive me if I've made any spelling errors, I already know my grammar isn't the best, but what do you expect? It's a fanfic to a series that I adore. Anyway. The end of Season 3 just plain sucked to me that Vanessa and Ethan didn't even get their moment together except when she was about to die. The thought of reincarnation hit me last night with this and I thought I'd pour out my own version of a second chance for the lovers, and see if other people like it too. If this story hits a lot of people's fancy I'll probably keep going with it, but until then I hope you enjoy at least the beginning of my version of them finding one another. Reincarnation is tricky stuff.**


	2. Dreams

Chapter 2

Dream. It was always the same dream that Vanessa had, though luckily it didn't occur every time she slept, or she certainly wouldn't get any rest. The imagery was so vivid but she could never see any faces, only hear voices, and see tiny details that didn't really matter much. Sometimes she even sensed what the woman was feeling in her dream. It always turned out to be complete sorrow, the feeling of defeat, and also just a small bit of happiness. The happiness she guessed was from the male counterpart that was there every single time with the woman in the huge room with candles.

"Hey, earth to Vanessa, can I borrow your Algebra book?" Mina asked as she stood next to Vanessa's locker, they tried to do this every year, to get lockers right next to one another in order to stick together.

A bit of a smirk came to the girl's lips as she reached into her open locker grabbing a book, and handing it to her blonde haired friend. "Are you ever going to get off your ass and actually search your room for that book?" Vanessa raised an eyebrow at Mina with an amused look.

Mina grinned a little sheepishly as she shrugged her shoulders. "What can I say, becoming a high school senior has messed with my brain."

"Yeah, and your ability to remember to do anything. At all." She teased her scatter-brained friend at least until the bell rang, signaling that they needed to get to their next class. "Ugh, well at least Mr. Thompson's class will be more interesting then History class. Yay English lit."

Her flat sarcastic tone actually had Mina laughing softly as they were leaving their lockers and going towards their next class together, they also had the same classes together all except Art, that being Vanessa's favorite subject. Because their high school wasn't that large, it didn't take much effort to get to their class and find their seats next to one another towards the back. What had gotten the two girls attentions though was the fact that Mr. Thompson wasn't in the classroom today, other students saw it as well. A substitute. A young man that barely looked like he was out of high school with brown long-ish hair, and a gray suit, he was good looking as well as Vanessa could tell some of the girls in the class were ogling the poor man. He didn't even seem to acknowledge any of the eyes that were on him as he had a book open on the desk close to the large dry-erase board, and he wrote his name up on the board in black dry-erase marker before facing the full class as everyone had make it to their seats.

"Good morning class." He began as he had a suave look and a gentle smile but what caught a lot of the class' attention was the accent, the stranger sounded like he was from overseas that was very certain. "Mr. Thompson will be out the rest of this month unfortunately, a death in the family. I am Mr. Dorian Gray, I will be taking over for him until his return. Now. Raise your hand when I call your name please, roll call."

As Mr. Gray began roll call to make sure the whole class was here, Vanessa and Mina had both looked over at one another with a bit of curiosity. "That's kinda' weird don't you think..? I didn't know Mr. Thompson had any family." Vanessa said as Mina shrugged her shoulders, replying to her friend. "I don't know, but I definitely know this guy is pretty hot."

What her friend said had her roll her eyes and scoff softly as her voice was kept in a low whisper to avoid being heard and possibly embarrassed to death. "You can't be serious man, that guy?" She asked Mina, as Mina smiled wide over at her friend. "Well he is..." She defended before Mr. Gray got to her name.

"Ms. Mina Harper." He asked as Gray glanced around the room until the blonde haired girl raised her hand. "Here, Mr. Gray!" She was enthused just as some of the other girls in the classroom that had an instant crush on the stranger, and Vanessa couldn't help but roll her eyes in response.

But when it came to her turn she heard the man say her name and she raised her hand. "Here, sir!" Immediately his eyes went to the hand that was raised in the air, but did not expect to see the face attached. He saw Vanessa's face and realization was painted all over his own from seeing her face, a very curious realization as he even stared at her face for a moment. The man's piercing gaze on her made her begin to frown slightly in worry, why was he looking at her like this? He had finally gotten a hold of himself though before speaking again.

"Ms. Ives?" He asked out loud while still looking Vanessa's way and it made others look her way also because what was occurring was certainly a little strange, but she had an awkward smile as she shrugged. "Uh...I don't know who that is Mr. Gray." She told him honestly and he could see that she was telling the truth, he had been around far too long to believe a lie.

The surprise and realization faded from his face and Mr. Gray gave a bit of a smile. "My apologies, Ms. Jones." And he had gone back to doing the roll call but she looked over at Mina as her friend shrugged. The two girls were at a loss of what had just happened.

In the classroom the lesson went on normal enough and this new teacher was quite knowledgeable when it came to English Literature, it gave the girls really good notes as well at least until the class ended. On the way out the door though Vanessa told Mina she would be a moment as she went to Mr. Gray's desk while the class was letting out completely. "Mr. Gray?"

The man had turned around from wiping away what he had been writing on the board and seeing her, he gave her a polite smile. "Ah, Ms. Jones. What can I do for you?" He asked her as she looked at him curiously. "Sorry Mr. Gray but I was just wondering, who's Ms. Ives?" Her tone had a curiousness to it as he looked like he was thinking.

A little bit of a sadness came over him though before he regained his composure. "Oh, she was a friend that I had lost a bit ago. You look like her. I apologize for earlier." He told her and she waved her hand to wave away his apology. "It's okay." She told him reassuringly. "I probably would have done the same thing. Well, see you tomorrow Mr. Gray."

She gave him a friendly smile before she left his classroom and Dorian took a seat at his temporary desk as he was now in between classes, he was alone for the moment. It gave him a moment as he thought back. Vanessa. Could it be? Her hair, eyes, skin, they were the same. But the girl's attitude was different, she was more friendly. A little outgoing. This girl was different from Vanessa Ives. He thought back to London.

 _Three men in black stood in a cemetery in front of a grave as they were saying their goodbyes to a loved one. Dorian stayed hidden as he had heard the news. She was gone like the flame of a candle. He had seen so many people come and go, even Lily whom he had thought he had found a companion in, but Vanessa Ives. She would be the one who got away from him, she would always be the one whom he remembered the most._

 _As the three men eventually left and he also saw the creature that was like Lily come, and go, he had approached the grave. It was his turn to say goodbye. The marble headstone was distinct, her name etched into it was beautiful. A sad look was apparent on his young face but no tears were shed. "Goodbye Ms. Ives."_

And just like that life moved on for him and now he was a substitute teacher inside Foster High School, but what were the odds that he would see her face again? He sat pondering.

...

It was much later in the day that Vanessa had made it home to her house just down the street from the school, it wasn't a large township that she lived in to begin with, it was on the east coast. After dinner and spending time with her parents she had gone to bed early from feeling tired, and that's when it began again. The dreams.

 _Sadness was the only thing that seemed to fill the small ceramic tiled room that had so many candles as a man and woman faced one another, closely, the faces were blurry; but the voices were clear. The bodies were just as clear as well._

" _Let. It. End."_

" _Don't ask it._

" _I don't have to. You know you have a destiny, it's why we first met, it's why you're here now. You must help me defeat the forces of darkness and deny them their prize for all time."_

" _No."_

" _Please...Ethan...Let it end."_

 _The mysterious woman had pulled a revolver from the man's belt that he had and placed it within his hand, the barrel rested right against the woman's abdomen._

" _With a kiss."_

" _With a kiss. With love."_

 _The man's eyes could be seen despite the rest of the face being blurred as there was so much torment and despair in those brown eyes, it hurt the woman to see such heart break in those eyes._

It was morning already but her eyes had opened quickly as she raised her head and saw she was in her own bedroom. There was no ceramic tiles, no darkness, no brown eyes to look into. All she could feel was sadness, but Vanessa didn't understand why as she sat up. Her own blue eyes were watery from having had such a dream. For years she had had the same dream but never in so much detail this time, she now knew the man's name that was always there, that she had wondered for years. There had never been a name before now.

"Ethan.." Vanessa whispered out the name as she wiped her eyes trying to make sense of all of this. Quickly she picked up her cell phone from her night stand to try to call Mina.

* * *

 **Authors Note:** It's felt like forever trying to get through this second chapter and I'm really sorry guys it took me this long! Hopefully third chapter won't take so long and I will indeed introduce Ethan in the third, just have to have patience with me. Hope you enjoy this one. =) Thanks!


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